A method and system is disclosed in German patent application No. P 29 08 321 in which a broadband signal is transmitted or stored in a plurality or narrow-band channels. In order to avoid having to use a plurality of modulators and demodulators in the narrow-band channels, the frequency modulation and demodulation takes place in the broadband channel. Specifically, the signals in the individual channels are stored in buffer storages, from which they read out during recording with a lower clock rate than that with which they were recorded.
During playback, the signals derived from the tape are again applied to a corresponding number of buffer storages. They are then read out from the storages, staggered with respect to time and at a higher clock rate, and are recombined to the original broadband signal. The different signal segments must of course be recombined correctly, both with respect to time and, particularly, with respect to phase. This is made more difficult by timing errors which appear during the recombination of the stored carrier frequency signals. The timing errors arise from various sources. For example, the start of the recording and playback into or from the buffer storages, which is required to effect the above-described time transformation, may not have a constant relationship to the synchronization signals of the video signal. In addition, general timing errors occur due to undesired variations in the band drive velocity, changes in the path traversed by the tape, etc.